A dad who had a heart attack at the wheel of his car was saved by a chance encounter with a student nurse who was driving by.
John McKeown was spotted unconscious at the wheel of his car at a junction on Princess Drive near Knotty Ash by a passer-by on Saturday, November 11 2023. The passer-by flagged down a car to help and luckily for John the driver of the car was student nurse Demi Murphy who was on her way home from a meal with friends.
Demi said: "John's car was in the middle of the road and when I got to him he wasn't breathing and was unresponsive."
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Unbeknownst to Demi at that time John had had a heart attack but she quickly snapped into action to save his life. The 21-year-old said: "I didn’t have time to think about it, I just jumped in the car and started doing CPR while he was in the drivers’ seat, and my friend was on the phone to the ambulance."
Demi is in her third year of studying nursing at the University of Liverpool and has been working at Royal Liverpool University Hospital. She stayed with John until the ambulance arrived which took the dad of two to Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital.
She said: “Thankfully, the ambulance arrived quite quickly, and they got him out of the car and I continued CPR when John was on the floor, while the paramedics got the defibrillator. Once they had a pulse, he was put in the ambulance."
John, from Norris Green, suffered a ventricular fibrillation cardiac arrest, which is when the heart quivers instead of pumping normally and is now recovering at home after having surgery to fit a cardiac defibrillator which detects and stops irregular heartbeats.
John has no recollection of the events but his family are very grateful for Demi's quick thinking. Vicky Flattery is John's partner, she said: “John literally wouldn’t be here today without everything Demi did for him. I’m not usually one to believe in fate but I was sure we were going to lose him, there was someone looking over us that day.
“We’re just really thankful that Demi was in the right place at the right time and all the other paramedics and hospital teams worked to save John so he could come home to his children and his family.”
David Melia, Chief Nursing Officer at Liverpool University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, which runs the Royal, said: “Demi should be incredibly proud of herself. Her quick thinking and life-saving actions mean John is here to enjoy Christmas with his family this year. I’ve no doubt that Demi has a long and successful nursing career ahead of her.”
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